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- All Subjects: Music
- Creators: Norton, Kay
- Creators: Holbrook, Amy
- Creators: Schuring, Martin
Description
This document is intended to show the various kinds of stylistically appropriate melodic and rhythmic ornamentation that can be used in the improvisation of the Sarabandes by J.S. Bach. Traditional editions of Bach's and other Baroque-era keyboard works have reflected evolving historical trends. The historical performance movement and other attempts to "clean up" pre-1950s romanticized performances have greatly limited the freedom and experimentation that was the original intention of these dances. Prior to this study, few ornamented editions of these works have been published. Although traditional practices do not necessarily encourage classical improvisation in performance I argue that manipulation of the melodic and rhythmic layers over the established harmonic progressions will not only provide diversity within the individual dance movements, but also further engage the ears of the performer and listener which encourages further creative exploration. I will focus this study on the ornamentation of all six Sarabandes from J.S. Bach's French Suites and show how various types of melodic and rhythmic variation can provide aurally pleasing alternatives to the composed score without disrupting the harmonic fluency. The author intends this document to be used as a pedagogical tool and the fully ornamented Sarabandes from J.S. Bach's French Suites are included with this document.
ContributorsOakley, Ashley (Author) / Meir, Baruch (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Pagano, Caio (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Several contemporary clarinet works use Chinese folk music elements from different regions in new compositions to entice listener's and performer's appreciation of Chinese culture. However, to date, limited academic research on this topic exists. This research paper introduces six contemporary clarinet works by six Chinese composers: Qigang Chen's Morning Song, Yan Wang's Mu ma zhi ge (The Song of Grazing Horses), An-lun Huang's Capriccio for Clarinet and Strings Op. 41, Bijing Hu's The Sound of Pamir Clarinet Concerto, Mei-Mi Lan's Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Harp and Percussion, and Yu-Hui Chang's Three Fantasias for Solo Clarinet in B-flat. They are examined from different perspectives, including general structure, style, and rejuvenated folk music use. The focus of this research paper is to investigate the use of Chinese folk music in several works in collaboration with the composers. The author found that although contemporary composers use Chinese folk music differently in their works (i.e., some use melodies, others use harmony, while others use modes), each work celebrates the music and culture of the folk music on which the pieces are based. It is the author's hope to stimulate people's interest in music using Chinese folk music elements, and bring these lesser known works into the common clarinet repertoire.
ContributorsFeng, Chiao-Ting (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Gardner, Joshua (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This final research paper provides both a performer's perspective and a recording of double clarinet literature by William O. Smith (b. 1926), Eric Mandat (b. 1957), and Jody Rockmaker (b. 1961). The document includes musical examples, references to the recording, and interviews with the composers. The first chapter contains a brief literature review of sources on world double clarinets, biographies of the above-mentioned composers, and other pertinent information. Chapters 2-4 include the performer's perspective on the following works: Epitaphs for Double Clarinet by William O. Smith, Double Life for Solo Clarinet by Eric Mandat, and two compositions by Jody Rockmaker, Half and Half for demi-clarinet in A, and Double Dip. The final chapter examines how double clarinet music has evolved, the challenges and limitations of the repertoire, and the future of the double clarinet genre.
ContributorsEndel, Kimberly Michelle (Author) / Spring, Robert S (Thesis advisor) / Gardner, Joshua (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In addition to his many other works, Russian-American composer Leo Ornstein (1893-2002) contributed a substantial body of literature for cello and piano, including Sonata No. 1 (1915-1916), Sonata No. 2 (circa 1920), Composition No. 1 (date unknown), Two Pieces (date unknown), and Six Preludes (1930-1931). His cello music is an eclectic mix of twentieth-century Neoromantic and atonal styles. This study includes a recording of the complete works for cello and piano by Leo Ornstein and a description of the music that details the formal procedures and how the cello and piano relate to one another. The discussion offers extensive musical examples in support of the descriptions. The recording was completed at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada (October 2009), with R. Nicolas Alvarez, cello, in collaboration with pianist Keith Kirchoff. Andre Shrimski produced and edited the recording.
ContributorsAlvarez, Rodolfo Nicolas (Author) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Rotaru, Catalin (Committee member) / Jiang, Danwen (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
About piano students who display disruptive behavior and perform far below reasonable expectations, teachers first conclude that they are lazy, rude, disinterested, and/or lacking intelligence or ability. Most dismiss such students from studios and advise parents to discontinue lessons. In truth, many of these students are both highly gifted and also have a learning disability. Examined literature shows that the incidence of dyslexia and other learning disabilities in the gifted learner population is several times that of the regular learner population. Although large volumes of research have been devoted to dyslexia, and more recently to dyslexia and music (in the classroom and some in individual instrumental instruction), there is no evidence of the same investigation in relation to the specific needs of highly gifted dyslexic students in learning to play the piano. This project examines characteristics of giftedness and dyslexia, gifted learners with learning disabilities, and the difficulties they encounter in learning to read music and play keyboard instruments. It includes historical summaries of author's experience with such students and description of their progress and success. They reveal some of practical strategies that evolved through several decades of teaching regular and gifted dyslexic students that helped them overcome the challenges and learn to play the piano. Informal conversations and experience exchanges with colleagues, as well as a recently completed pilot study also showed that most piano pedagogues had no formal opportunity to learn about this issue and to be empowered to teach these very special students. The author's hope is to offer personal insights, survey of current knowledge, and practical suggestions that will not only assist piano instructors to successfully teach highly gifted learners with dyslexia, but also inspire them to learn more about the topic.
ContributorsVladikovic, Jelena (Author) / Humphreys, Jere T. (Thesis advisor) / Meir, Baruch (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Hamilton, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
ABSTRACT Musicians endure injuries at an alarming rate, largely due to the misuse of their bodies. Musicians move their bodies for a living and therefore should understand how to move them in a healthy way. This paper presents Body Mapping as an injury prevention technique specifically directed toward collaborative pianists. A body map is the self-representation in one's brain that includes information on the structure, function, and size of one's body; Body Mapping is the process of refining one's body map to produce coordinated movement. In addition to preventing injury, Body Mapping provides a means to achieve greater musical artistry through the training of movement, attention, and the senses. With the main function of collaborating with one or more musical partners, a collaborative pianist will have the opportunity to share the knowledge of Body Mapping with many fellow musicians. This study demonstrates the author's credentials as a Body Mapping instructor, the current status of the field of collaborative piano, and the recommendation for increased body awareness. Information on the nature and abundance of injuries and Body Mapping concepts are also analyzed. The study culminates in a course syllabus entitled An Introduction to Collaborative Piano and Body Mapping with the objective of imparting fundamental collaborative piano skills integrated with proper body use. The author hopes to inform educators of the benefits of prioritizing health among their students and to provide a Body Mapping foundation upon which their students can build technique.
ContributorsBindel, Jennifer (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Doan, Jerry (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
A common concern among musical performers in today'’s musical market pertains to their capacity to adapt to the constantly changing climate of the music business. This document focuses on one aspect of the development of a sustainable, entrepreneurship skill set: the production of a recording. While producing the recording Chocolates, the author examined and documented the multiplicity of skills encompassed with a recording project. The first part of the document includes a discussion of various aspects of the recording project, Chocolates, through an entrepreneurial lens, and an evaluation of the skill sets acquired through the recording process. Additionally, the inspiration and relevance behind the recording project and the process of collaboration between the two composers from whom I commissioned new compositions, Noah Taylor and James Grant, and myself is considered. Finally, I describe the recording and editing processes, including the planning involved within each process, how I achieved the final product, and the entrepreneurial skills involved. The second portion of this document examines a broad range of applications of entrepreneurship, marketing, and career management skills not only within the confines of this particular project, but also in relation to the overall sustainability of a twenty-–first century music-–performing career.
ContributorsStuckemeyer, Mary (Author) / Micklich, Albie (Thesis advisor) / Carpenter, Ellon (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The end of the nineteenth century was an exhilarating and revolutionary era for the flute. This period is the Second Golden Age of the flute, when players and teachers associated with the Paris Conservatory developed what would be considered the birth of the modern flute school. In addition, the founding in 1871 of the Société Nationale de Musique by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and Romain Bussine (1830-1899) made possible the promotion of contemporary French composers. The founding of the Société des Instruments à Vent by Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) in 1879 also invigorated a new era of chamber music for wind instruments. Within this groundbreaking environment, Mélanie Hélène Bonis (pen name Mel Bonis) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1876, under the tutelage of César Franck (1822-1890). Many flutists are dismayed by the scarcity of repertoire for the instrument in the Romantic and post-Romantic traditions; they make up for this absence by borrowing the violin sonatas of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Franck. The flute and piano works of Mel Bonis help to fill this void with music composed originally for flute. Bonis was a prolific composer with over 300 works to her credit, but her works for flute and piano have not been researched or professionally recorded in the United States before the present study. Although virtually unknown today in the American flute community, Bonis's music received much acclaim from her contemporaries and deserves a prominent place in the flutist's repertoire. After a brief biographical introduction, this document examines Mel Bonis's musical style and describes in detail her six works for flute and piano while also offering performance suggestions.
ContributorsDaum, Jenna Elyse (Author) / Buck, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Libby Larsen is one of the most performed and acclaimed composers today. She is a spirited, compelling, and sensitive composer whose music enhances the poetry of America's most prominent authors. Notable among her works are song cycles for soprano based on the poetry of female writers, among them novelist and poet Willa Cather (1873-1947). Larsen has produced two song cycles on works from Cather's substantial output of fiction: one based on Cather's short story, "Eric Hermannson's Soul," titled Margaret Songs: Three Songs from Willa Cather (1996); and later, My Antonia (2000), based on Cather's novel of the same title. In Margaret Songs, Cather's poetry and short stories--specifically the character of Margaret Elliot--combine with Larsen's unique compositional style to create a surprising collaboration. This study explores how Larsen in these songs delves into the emotional and psychological depths of Margaret's character, not fully formed by Cather. It is only through Larsen's music and Cather's poetry that Margaret's journey through self-discovery and love become fully realized. This song cycle is a glimpse through the eyes of two prominent female artists on the societal pressures placed upon Margaret's character, many of which still resonate with women in today's culture. This study examines the work Margaret Songs by discussing Willa Cather, her musical influences, and the conditions surrounding the writing of "Eric Hermannson's Soul." It looks also into Cather's influence on Libby Larsen and the commission leading to Margaret Songs. Finally, a description of the musical, dramatic, and textual content of the songs completes this interpretation of the interactions of Willa Cather, Libby Larsen, and the character of Margaret Elliot.
ContributorsMcLain, Christi Marie (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this project is twofold: to contribute to the literature of chamber ensembles comprising mixed wind, string, and percussion instruments by producing arrangements of three piano rags by William Bolcom; and to highlight Bolcom's pivotal role in the ragtime revival of the 1960's and 1970's. Through his influence as a scholar, composer, and performer, Bolcom (b. 1938), one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, helped garner respect for ragtime as art music and as one of America's great popular music genres. Bolcom's 3 Ghost Rags were written in the tradition of classic piano rags, but with a compositional sensibility that is influenced by the fifty years that separate them from the close of the original ragtime era. The basis for the present orchestrations of 3 Ghost Rags is the collection of instrumental arrangements of piano rags published by Stark Publishing Co., entitled Standard High-Class Rags. More familiarly known as the "Red Back Book," this publication was representative of the exchange of repertoire between piano and ensembles and served as a repertory for the various ragtime revivals that occurred later in the twentieth century. In creating these orchestrations of Bolcom's piano rags, the author strove to provide another medium in which Bolcom's music could be performed, while orchestrating the music for an historically appropriate ensemble.
ContributorsMelley, Eric Charles (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Russell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013